


sand castles

by theboynamedcrow



Category: Banana Fish (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Dreams, Introspection, M/M, Magical Realism, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-04
Updated: 2019-07-04
Packaged: 2020-06-03 19:59:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19471114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theboynamedcrow/pseuds/theboynamedcrow
Summary: Someone calls his name in the distance. It takes him a second to distinguish Ash's voice. Ash is calling for him, and his heart is overcome with a piercing emotion that is hard to place.Longing, Eiji realizes, as he catches a glimpse of the boy sitting by the shore under the blinding sun.Weren't they always this young?_In which Eiji dreams of Ash years later after their last goodbye.





	sand castles

Cape Cod looks vast and deserted. The weeds tumble softly in a swift motion, as if caressed by a gentle breeze, but Eiji can't feel the wind. Can't smel the salty scent of the ocean stretching before him, and the position of the sun makes it hard to tell what time it is. 

Someone calls his name in the distance. It takes him a second to distinguish Ash's voice. Ash is calling for him, and his heart is overcome with a piercing emotion that is hard to place. 

Longing, Eiji realizes, as he catches a glimpse of the boy sitting by the shore under the blinding sun.

Longing? He's pretty sure he saw Ash yesterday. He was reading an old looking book, not bothering to adjust his glasses even though they had slid almost to the tip of his nose. It made him look younger.

Weren't they always this young?

"Ash! Where had you been?" Eiji asks, surprising himself at the urgency of his tone. Ash just smiles and pats the white sand next to him. They sit in silence for a long while, or what feels like it. The only indication of time passing is Ash's slow breathing. The sun is unmoving, the sea is endless.

"When I was little," Ash begins, "Griff and I used to build sand catles here."

"You did?" Eiji wants nothing more than to reach Ash's hand, but something instinctual tells him that he might disappear if Eiji gets too close. 

"Yeah. I must have been like six or seven. That time, I don't remember why, he had to leave right before we started one. I decided I'd finish it on my own and surprise him when he came back. I was so proud of the result. It probably looked like shit, but I was excited to show him. Then right when I was calling for him a huge wave swept it away and it was gone, just like that. I cried so much even though Griff kept repeating it'd be okay, that we could always build a new one."

Ash's eyes are lost on the horizon, but as soon as they land on Eiji, the fondness with which he remembers Griff and the sand castles is lost to a frown of confusion, then worry. He touches Eiji's cheek as if he's made of glass, and only then Eiji realizes he's crying. 

"Why did you leave, Ash?"

Ash laughs quietly, his thumb pointlessly trying to dry the tears that won't stop. "What are you talking about, you weirdo? I'm right here."

Ash feels warm when he embraces him. Solid, even. But his words do not confort him. Eiji hides on his chest until the shaking of his shoulders subsides.

"Don't you have a flight to catch?" 

Eiji shakes his head almost desperately. "No," he whispers. "I can't! I won't. Not without you, Ash."

"I already saw you fly once, Eiji." Ash cups his face. His green eyes are serene, creased with the traces of a faint smile. "You can do it again."

.

His pillow is wet when Eiji wakes up, but the dream is soon lost to the sounds of the city breathing back into life at sunrise. The big red numbers of his alarm clock quickly change to remind him that he'll probably be late to the photoshoot if he doesn't get up in the next five minutes.

He will do it again. One day at a time.

**Author's Note:**

> Dreams are one of my favorite things to write and as much as I refuse to touch the canon ending with a 10 feet pole, I had to get the sads out of my chest somehow so this was born at 2am.


End file.
